Christmas

Also known as The Nativity, it is widely celebrated by most Christians on 25th December every year as a Holy-day.

This date however does not signify the actual date
of birth of Jesus. It was arbitrarily chosen to coincide with the
passing of the Winter Solstice in the Northern hemisphere,
this being the first day there that the hours of daylight become
measurably longer than the night darkness - thus
symbolizing the triumph of
Light over Darkness.

The Northern Winter Solstice With The Sun at Its Lowest Ebb Over The Horizon

Credit: Google Images

Being based on what is a natural phenomenon, it is
understandable that this date is also celebrated by many other belief systems
and cultures as their “Festival of Lights”.

For Christians, however, this
symbolism holds a special significance regarding the birth-of-Jesus-Christ.

We read in the Gospel of John 1: 1-14
NLT:

“In the beginning the word already
existed."

"The Word, was with God, and the
Word, was God. He existed in the beginning with God. God created everything
through him, and nothing was created except through him. The Word gave life to
everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone. The light
shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.”

“God sent a man, John the Baptist, to
tell about the light so that everyone might believe because of his testimony.
John himself was not the light; he was simply a witness to tell about the
light. The one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming
into the world.”

“He came into the very world that he
created, but the world did not recognize him. He came to his own people , and
even they rejected him. But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave
the right to become children of God. They are reborn – not with a physical
birth resulting from human passion or plan, but birth that comes from God.”

“So the Word became human and made his
home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen
his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.”

We find the Son of God depicted here
as the Creator of the Universe and all life-and-matter!

The Traditional Nativity Tale

The-Birth-Of-Jesus-Christ

Shepherds Called As Witnesses

Credit: Google Images

Traditionally, with Christmas the inspiring story
of the birth of Jesus Christ as we read it in the Gospel of Luke 2:1-39 steals
the limelight. Every Christmas we
re-read and re-enact the familiar tale of Joseph, with Mary in her final stages
of pregnancy, desperately and vainly seeking lodging and eventually having to
settle for a corner in a stable.

Here Mary gives birth to the Baby Jesus, after
which an angel, accompanied by a heavenly chorus, appears to shepherds in the field to announce
the birth of the Messiah and instructing them to find the child lying in a
manger wrapped in swaddling cloths.

This is how our Lord entered this world. Nowhere to
stay, and the only witnesses some shepherds - people with a status so low that
their testimony was not allowed as evidence in Jewish courts of the time!

Concerning the birth of Jesus Christ, however, I
would like us to turn our attention to
that manger and focus on the new-born Baby Jesus lying there. He has just gone
through the excruciating and painful experience of physical birth.

So frail, tiny, and helpless! Completely
disorientated – just like any other human baby that has ever been born! Having
to cope with breathing on his own and learning to suck mother’s milk from
Mary’s breast. No longer being fed now through her placenta as had been the
case for the past nine months. His little eyelids probably still closed, and
little fingers clenching and unclenching.

How can we reconcile this utterly helpless baby
who's birth, becoming human and living among us is celebrated at Christmas,
with the apostle John’s depiction of Him as “the Word, the Son of God and all
powerful Creator of everything that exists”?

Credit: Google Images

The Ultimate Devine Paradox

Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus
Christ as the﻿ Ultimate Divine Paradox﻿! This little Baby
Jesus is incomprehensibly, at the same time, both completely human and
also fullyGod! This is a truth we are
incapable of even beginning to comprehend, yet it is the cornerstone of
our faith and of Jesus’ own ministry!

This little Baby Jesus could
not know it yet, but he has entered this world on a deadly serious rescue
mission that will ultimately lead to his crucifixion and death.
We read in Hebrews 2:14-15 NLT:

“Because God’s children are
human beings – made of flesh and blood – the Son also became flesh and blood.
For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the
power of the devil, who had the power of death. Only in this way could he set
free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying.”

Wouldn't it be fascinating if we could with
Christmas explore and learn how this little Baby Jesus, in the
process of growing up, gradually became aware of his being God as
well? This surely must have been a gradual process of increasing insight and
awareness that we can’t even begin to understand, tested by his ordeal
and temptation in the desert, until he would eventually be able to say what
we read in John 14:8-9NLT:

“Philip said, “Lord, show us
the father, and we will be satisfied.”

“Jesus replied, “Have I been
with you all this time, Philip, and yet you still don’t know who I am?
Any one who has seen me has seen the Father. So why are you asking
me to show him to you?”

To paraphrase Philip Yancey regarding the
birth of Jesus Christ:

“God wanted to know what
it actually felt like to be inside a human skin, so he did so through
the incarnation of Jesus Christ!”

While we contemplate this glorious truth
during this season, I wish you all a truly blessed Christmas.

Shalom and God
Bless you all!

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